​14-year-old Haylee Fentress had moved from Indiana to the small town of Lynd, Minnesota about a year ago. Maybe it was because she was the new girl. Maybe it was because she was somewhat overweight. But her new classmates didn't take to her...

Paige Moravetz had recently gotten into a fight at school. Her friend Haylee was expelled after stepping in to help her.

​In fact, they made her life miserable. They taunted her about her weight and her red hair. She was ostracized and mocked. She became so self-conscious she would rarely eat at school for fear it would only bring on more ridicule.

Fortunately, she did have one excellent friend in Paige Moravetz, also 14. Paige was a hockey player and was teaching Haylee how to skate. They were so close that Haylee even hyphenated her name on her Facebook page to include Paige's last name.

Yet their troubles at school recently boiled over. Paige got into a fight. Haylee stepped in to defend her and was expelled. Naturally, the bullied kid was the one booted from school.

"That was really weighing on her, missing her friends and being excluded
from school. She felt like she was defending herself and her friend," Haylee's aunt, Robin Settle, told ABC News.

At the same time, Paige's mom and stepdad left for a 10-day vacation in Hawaii. She decided to have a sleepover at Haylee's house. At 1 a.m. that night, Haylee left a happy birthday message on her cousin's Facebook page. Then she called her best friend back in Indiana.

They appear to have planned the suicide pact for some time. Both left detailed instructions for their funerals. Haylee "requested everything pink and princess and butterflies," says her aunt. (Special thanks to reader Moet for the tip.)

I have been there and felt the same things these girls did. Bullying. Don't read into what you want to think happened to these girls. This was 40 years ago for me. I was not popular, I didn't care. I was my own person. I was athletic. Not a popular thing for a girl. I was cute, irish and friendly. I was still made fun of. My parents were poor. I ended up leaving school because of the ugliness of others. I am very successful now. I am glad I didn't kill myself. I also had 2 other friends who left school. One was Jewish and the other had buck teeth. Amazing what we kids will do to get away from the scum kids that think they are better. If you want to know, the parents of these kids are not teaching them that we are all special in God's eyes. They are not teaching them period, lets face it.

I think that Bullying is overlooked in schools, My son was bullied on the bus, he came home with a big goose egg on his head and I just let it ride until the next time he got hit, the following Month there was a Bullying meeting at the High School and I thought good I would like to get some advice on what I should do and My Husband and I and one other couple were the only people at the meeting.. I couldn't believe it, I think more needs to be done and if someone is bullying other kids, he needs to get help from the school because alot of kids don't get the help from home like they need, sending them home only adds to the problem, most parents just tell their child to move on but that isn't enough.. just listen and look at your child and see how they going through life, they need more parents to listen and talk to them not yell, I clean at a school and you should hear the parents when they come to get their kids from school, it would make you sick, can't you even ask you child "How was your day"? Don't tell them how terrible your day was, he can't comprehend that, A child that is bullied will just think that you mean the same "thing that everyone all day" has said "Looser", why are all the parents so afraid to get help on raising their child? I feed so bad for the parents of these children, I hope they can get the help they need to get through this and remember the good times they had with their kids not the bad.. I am sending the parents a hug!!!

What is wrong with these kids today? This is very sad. I cannot understand what is going on with so much of this now. I think people are evil overall, no offense, as i am one, but in general I am an animal person. The world has become filled with selfish, unaccepting children and parents. Where do these kids get this from. This was not this bad when I was in school. It was there, but not like this. Something is wrong. Everyone is judging everyone these days. It is disturbing. The lengths that kids go is scary. The school shootings, suicides etc. It is far worse. I would not want to be a teenager today.

@ My2Cents,True, but I don't think that people truly have a grab on the concept of how invasive these things are. It's way more complex than even I know. There's marketing drugs, and there's mental health treatment, two totally different animals. Long ago the committment period was two weeks. Now, it's 72 hours. I don't think I could even come up with a plan to clean my house in a mere 72 hours, let alone solve deep-seated psychological problems. But our society is not set up to account for this, there would be loss of jobs, loss of income. In 1996, a law was passed requiring employers to allow maternity leave to non-essential employees for six weeks under the family leave act. There should be be similar laws in place for mental health and patients should have more say in their treatment. I truly think that guy who stabbed himself and Ayllyssa's tragedy could have been avoided if we gave just a spec more consideration to mental health treatment.

I'm new to this site, but truly love reading the stories. I tend to stay away from the comments, mainly because of the shit spewing that is usually found in them.....just like in this discussion thread. Maybe some of you should reread your posts and figure out why you are bullying others online because they have an opinion. It's sad to see this kind of hatred for others and their opinions on a discussion thread about two 14 year old girls committing suicide for being bullied. Grow up.

This is so sad. It terrifies me to think that our children could be having such horrible feelings that they think the only way out is suicide. I find that in alot of the schools the teachers side with the bullies because they are nothing but grown bullies themselves.

It saddens me that neither girl felt there was an alternative to denying themselves all their life options. The way it had been carefully planned will leave their parents struggling for years believing they should have known what was happening. In the meantime the bullies will have time on their hands to rationalise and minimise their actions so that in a few months or so these young victims will be all but a hazy memory to bring up as anecdotes at drunken parties where their names will, I have no doubt, be bullied just that little bit more. I understand the protection metered out to children these days in terms of punishment etc at school however the increasing number of deaths secondary to bullying suggests that this may need to be readdressed...bullies need to understand their actions are unacceptable and have definite consequences.

What really bothers me is the funeral request by Haylee. It really shows how innocent yet cruel this situation was. As adults, we sometimes don't even remember what it was like to be a child. I can see my younger sister who is a mere 13 years old in the same situation as this. She's taller than most girls, overweight, and very shy. Although she isn't bullied, it breaks my heart just to imagine her or any child in this situation. She is still as innocent and undeveloped as they come. She loves pink, princesses, and butterflies alike and putting death or funeral in the same context as those things just reveals how painfully thin the line of life/death is.

I still can't believe that bullies exist in today's world. It is so saddening. Physical issues like overweight or short height is something people can't do much about. The bullies need to realize this. I wonder when the world will get rid of this sick attitude. http://www.iampleasant.com/

Don't worry, to the people who tormented her, karma is a bitch. And to be honest, this could have been easily prevented via good parenting. "My kid's depressed, lets go to Hawaii and leave her all by herself"

That story totally brought me to tears. I cannot even begin to imagine what their families must be going through. Two young, beautiful girls going to such extremes. I just dont get it. It just doesnt make any sense. What has the world come to?

I think people tried to bully me in grade school (where there was more time at recess, etc.) but I ignored them or went apeshit if they touched me, and therefore got a 'don't f-k with her, she's nuts' reputation. Junior high is a blur, and high school was very successful because I was smart and that was valued in our district.

I also got in trouble a couple of times in grade school because I'd put myself between a bully and the person they were being mean to. and then, well, see the 'apeshit' comment above.

After I got done reading his thread and posting my own reply, I came here to do my daily read through and this is on the top of the site. These poor girls, I feel so awful about it every time one of these children think that this is the only way out of these situations.

I hope that their tormentors get it all back to them tenfold, otherwise they'll just never understand the damage they've caused and will live their entire lives thinking they didn't do anything wrong. :|

I wanted to make a post to let you all know that the schools in that whole SW Minnesota area are very bad at helping the kids that really need the help. I can speak to this story because it hits home...literally. The house they hung themselves in I just moved out of 2 months ago. I talked to the stepdad today and the devistation is enormous. They had been planning this for a while. I have had problems with the schools not taking action against the kids that are doing the bullying. Teachers are afraid of the kids now days.

Leah I went to a great school, but most of the kids there sucked ass LOL wow...it's true. My teachers were great at what they did. I had more than one of them pull the fucking pack of assbites off of me LOL fucking cowards never said a word to me when they were alone. Come to think of it they were never alone, they were always in packs.

I've already posted to you but...the 72-hours you mention was a creation of clients of the mental health service. Deep-seated psychological problems requiring hospitalisation are very rare (as opposed to what you see in movies or hear on TV). The larger portion of people who use psychotropic medication as inpatients wouldn't agree with you about their nature. If you have had a "axis I" mental health issue you would understand. I beleive you are confusing general prescribing at the public face with specialist prescribing at core services. The former is a general disgrace d/t poor medical training but the latter is a matter of survival for those concerned. I also feel commenting on medications you have not used (appropriately or otherwise) gives your argument little credence. Most of what you have posted is heresay and usually found in literature written by ex clients of mental health services with poor insight and/or a major chip on their shoulder. As I have mentioned before I have been prescribed a number of these medications, am aware of their benefits and drawbacks, chemical properties, supposed actions etc...I can assure you despite their negative points they are at present indispensable and can be attributed with saving lives many times over compared to those who choose to suicide or act out while (incidentally)taking them. I neither support nor condone their use but approach on a case by case basis...quite simply the only effective way of doing the biz. You might want to try it sometime...gets rid of the reactionary commentary that goes on in your head.

Johnny, That's very juvenile. Do not blame your problems with excessive sleepiness brought about by Johnny Walker and his gang on foggymorning.

Go to sleep Johnny and read this tomorrow and laugh your ass off (not literally, you will need that tomorrow for the hot inmates in jumpsuits and rodents/fish - don't worry, I won't tell PETA, I don't like them either.) Or, if your ass has handprints on it, then feel free to laugh it off, as we would not want anyone to lift prints off of it.

Since you are new to the site, I am assuming that I am one of the bullies, and you haven't even began to see what most of these comments are based on. That's fine. If you are interested in all about people's opinions on the affects of medication and violent acts, start with the Alyssa Bustamante threads. Then move to others involving teenagers.

I doubt it will be anytime soon. Bullying, in one form or another, has always been around, and i fear it will stay that way.In fact, i wonder if it's worse now - young boys and girls get bombarded with the supposed healthy and pretty ideal in magazines and on tv. They don't have the experience or self esteem to know that those images aren't real. They just see what they think people should look like, then look around them and can find something in everyone that does not adhere to that ideal.

I'm sure if these parents knew their daughter was depressed, they would have done something to help her. A lot of teens wouldn't want to talk to their parents about their feelings, I don't think you should be blaming them for something they may not have even known. Haven't they suffered enough?

Good for you for finding a way out of being bullied. I discovered one by accident - when i started joking about my supposed faults - in fact my jokes were better than what the bullies could come up with. I'd always had a self-deprecating humor, but had been trying the 'just ignore it' strategy which is worse than useless. Taking their fire-power away though: very effective! :)

I'm so sorry...you knew her? This must be tough for you. Being her friend is how you did help her. But you can't beat yourself up trying to figure this out, OK? I know that you'll now be more attune to the pain you sense in Anyone you meet, and that is how you will keep Haylee with you. Stay strong.

@ kiwiconnection, That's what I have been saying all along. The issue lies with the govt. programs and FDA funded by pharma companies. By nature, corporations will do whatever they can get away with to make money. User fees to the FDA have to go away. If the govt. won't start yanking some psychiatrists and doctors licenses, then the parents need to start hounding the medical boards. If I were Rebecca Riley's family's attorney, I would not finish until that Dr.'s license was suspended or revoked. State's have no problem yanking licenses of "bad" doctors like Stephen Brigham, who accidentally injured a patient. The patient of course is a super innocent person who probably didn't know the abortion she was getting was a late term illegal one. After all, how can she be expected to know how long she's been pregnant? This was ONE patient, and she lived b/c he was decent enough to have her taken to the hospital. On the other hand Dr. Kifuji, the doctor who prescribed Rebecca Riley 3 diff. psych meds and diagnosed her with bi-polar at age 2, susbsequently causing her death is granted immunity to send the stupid parents up the river for murder for life. Dr. Kifuji also prescribed Rebecca's 2 other siblings psych meds and the parents were collecting disability for the kids. Now I can think of more than tencharges Dr. Kifuji should be rotting in jail for right now, one of which should be SSI fraud, but she is loose to continue her risky fradulent practices. But the courts (aka govt.) choose to pretect these practices.

@Jenn and Tonic - I get your point and it is extremely annoying. I just don't think it takes being so mean to get your point across. Why can't you just ignore him? Oh right, you say you are a bitchy person. I am too. Perhaps I will shut my mouth now as I may at some point need to be a bitch to someone who has the same opinion OVER and OVER and OVER again. (and no, there is no sarcasm here...just straight shootin' with you!)

I think you meant to say "you" are assuming I am one of the bullies. But foggymornings' comments were'nt directed towards you. Why are you assuming they are? I think foggymornings just saw what I did, in that I was getting "ganged up on" (waiting forever here Johnny!) How, in one way it's OK but in another it's not.

You have your reasons for thinking that psych meds could have saved your husband. I have my reasons for thinking they cause destruction. No biggie. Last time I checked, we're all allowed to have our own opinions. It's much better that we all have our own individual opinions, than all the same one. If you know anything about human nature (hopefully you do by reading TCR) then you should know that, when in a group, humans usually sink to the lowest common denominator (thus my hatred of big govt., not a conspiracy, but something in direct opposition to the general public welfare.) This is not the case with other species. Most likely b/c other species do not use money.

I find fault with the way the medications are used to make money with no accountability. I know for a fact that the people who created them, sincerely wanted to help people. I think the true issue is that we need better mental health care, regardless of drugs. I truly believe we could save way more people than we do now.

it is when we already tell you time and time again we get what you are saying and you just won't quit... that's all I got to say... so you just keep on throwing it out there and they will keep busting you chops about it and then you can whine about everyone ganging up on you and your opinion...we are just sick of hearing it and that is all I have to say about it any more

Foggy, I didn't really say anything that was all that mean. And if Half Dozen has an issue with what I said, I'm sure (s)he won't have a problem telling me so. That's fine. I'll apologize for being a little hateful if it is taken that way, but as I saw it, it was just two opposing opinions, beating the same dead horse that was beaten months, probably a year ago. This site promotes discussion and commentary, and sometimes even a little fun. So to me, me and half dozen going back and forth was nothing but two people spewing shit via a website. I'm thinking maybe you just caught me on a bad day!

Knock back alcohol consumption and you've saved 100 x as many easily. The same for fatty foods, smoking, driving...hell you have more chance dying from an accident in your home. OF COURSE people have an opinion, and if they don't want it challenged they can keep it to themselves...going online invites debate. Jeez you guys need to get over yourselves. And by the way you appear to have changed your tune from anti-meds to anti-corporation...an admirable and more salient shift. If you really want to see improvement in the drugs area don't bother attacking the drug companies...focus on doctors and govt standards (regulation). Overcome medical (doctor) apathy and complacency and establish clear legislated guideleines for medication use. These things are controllable by the public whereas corporations control themselves often independently from Govt. I did this myself by training up as an auditor of health services giving me surprising powers to effect change in practice and attitude. With 25+ years of nursing practice and 30+ years as a consumer of mental health services you need to understand that I find your commentary on this subject naive and uneducated (no offence intended). Best thihg...learn the lesson taught to you by the drug companies...nothing is as it seems and that includes your own beliefs.

I have to second what My2 said. I respect that you have an opinion. That's wonderful. I even gave you props on another thread for sticking to your opinion no matter what others said. I have a problem with how you present said opinion. I have a problem with how you think every story that involves a young person somehow must be linked to overmedication. I don't personally have a problem with you. I'm just a bitchy person, and when your comments seem like records, my bitchiness comes out in my posts. Nothing personal, I just don't want to have to read the same shit over and over. I have tried to give you the benefit of the doubt and prayed that some post somewhere wouldn't end in how medicines are all evil. I really did. You let me down. Not that you even care, but I want you to understand.

again, we don't have a problem with your opinion...it is yours...what we have a problem with is having it hammered in every post you make, and the constant repeating yourself, its like the more you repeat it, you think we will change our own opinions. It does look a little squirrely when every thread circles back around to pharma... same shit different thread